Method and Apparatus for Providing Secure Delivery

ABSTRACT

A method, computer-readable medium and apparatus for receiving a package are disclosed. For example, the method via a processor receives an indication that the package is to be placed into a delivery box, captures an image of the delivery of the package, and sends a confirmation that the package has been placed into the delivery box.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/569,215, filed on Dec. 12, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,341,452, whichis herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to secure delivery and, moreparticularly, to a method, computer readable medium, and system forensuring the secure delivery of a package and the ability to verify thatthe secure delivery of the package has occurred.

BACKGROUND

As commerce continues to proliferate, especially Internet commerce, anever increasing amount of commerce involves the delivery of products aspackages to homeowners who are often unavailable to receive the packagesin person due to obligations such as work. Even if the residence isgenerally occupied throughout the day, it is impractical for theoccupant(s) of the residence to avail themselves to the deliveries ofpackages that may occur any time ranging from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Thus,packages (especially large packages that do not fit in a mailbox) areoften left at the door of the residence.

Unfortunately, such delivery practices allow thieves to exploit thisvulnerability, especially during the holiday seasons where a largenumber of packages (often expensive gifts) are being delivered. Thievescan simply follow a delivery truck and communicate the locations totheir accomplices where large packages are being left unattended at thedoor of residences.

Furthermore, thefts may also occur where a delivery service personnel(e.g., a deliveryman) may allege that a package was delivered to aresidence, but when in fact, the delivery service personnel may havedelivered the package to an accomplice's home instead. Furthermore, eventhe home owners may potentially be thieves. For example, a home ownerfinding a package being left at the door may then complain to theretailer or vendor that the package never arrived. Such thefts quicklyamount to a very large monetary loss to the retailers or vendors,insurance companies and/or product delivery service companies.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method,computer-readable medium, and apparatus for receiving a package. In oneembodiment, the method via a processor receives an indication that thepackage is to be placed into a delivery box, captures an image of thedelivery of the package, and sends a confirmation that the package hasbeen placed into the delivery box.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method,computer-readable medium, and apparatus for monitoring a delivery of apackage. In one embodiment, the method via a processor receives a firstnotification of the delivery of the package associated with a subscriberfrom a retailer, receives a second notification from a delivery serviceof a delivery schedule of the package, sends a third notificationcomprising the delivery schedule to a delivery box associated with thesubscriber, and receives a confirmation from the delivery box that thepackage has been placed into the delivery box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The essence of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a communications network of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for receiving a package intoa delivery box;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method for monitoring the receipt ofa package into a delivery box; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of a dedicated computersuitable for use in performing the functions described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates generally to ensuring the secure deliveryof a package and the ability to verify that the secure delivery of thepackage has occurred. As discussed above, delivery practices wherepackages left at the door of residences are providing thieves withopportunities to steal packages at great loss to the retailers orvendors, insurance companies and/or product delivery service companies.

One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a secure delivery box(broadly a container) that is deployed at the customer premises, e.g., astandalone house, a row house, a condominium, an apartment, a residencehall at a college, and so on. In one embodiment, the secure delivery boxcan be a standalone container that is located on the customer premises,but is not part of the customer's residence. Alternatively, in oneembodiment, the secure delivery box can be deployed within thecustomer's residence, e.g., the secure delivery box can be integratedinto a garage of the customer's residence with an access door forreceiving the packages. In one embodiment, the secure delivery boxemploys a processor and one or more input/output devices such as animage capturing device (e.g., a camera, a scanner, a bar code scanner, aQR code scanner, and the like), a communication device (e.g., an aircard, an Ethernet card, a modem, a transmitter, a receiver and/or atransceiver), a display (e.g., a touch screen display), a memory, astorage device such as a disk drive or an optical drive, and/or one ormore buttons (e.g., an open button to trigger the opening of an accessdoor to allow a package to be placed into the secure delivery box. Itshould be noted that this is not an exhaustive list of input/outputdevices.

In one embodiment, the secure delivery box may have communicationcapabilities, e.g., the ability for the secure delivery box tocommunicate with the customer if the customer is not at home, theability for the secure delivery box to communicate with the retailer orvendor to receive information pertaining to the package that is beingdelivered and/or to provide information back to the retailer or vendorthat the package was indeed received. The communication capabilities mayinvolve wireless communications (e.g., accessing a wireless network suchas a cellular network, a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) network, a wirelesslocal area network (LAN) and the like) or wired communications, e.g.,accessing a telecommunication land line such as a phone line or anEthernet line to access a LAN or a cable network set top box. Thefunctions of the secure delivery box will be described further below ingreater details.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 of the presentdisclosure. In one embodiment, the communication network 100 may includea core network 102. In one embodiment, the core network 102 may be anInternet Protocol (IP) based communication network operated by a serviceprovider. However, it should be noted that any type of core networksand/or access networks are within the scope of the present invention,e.g., cellular networks, wireless networks such as Wi-Fi networks, cablenetworks, optical networks, local area networks, and the like.

In one embodiment, the core network 102 may include an applicationserver (AS) 104 and a database (DB) 106. In one embodiment, the AS 104may be deployed as a dedicated computer illustrated in FIG. 4 anddescribed below and may perform the operations discussed herein.

In one embodiment, the DB 106 may store various information disclosedherein. For example, the DB 106 may store data associated with customersor subscribers of the network service provider. For example, the DB 106may store preferences or profiles of subscribers of various servicesprovided by the network service provider of the core network 102. In oneembodiment, the network service provider may provide a deliverynotification service to a subscriber and the preferences or profiles ofsubscribers may entail how the packages will be received at thesubscribers' residence, how the subscribers will be notified when apackage is delivered, and so on.

In one embodiment, a subscriber may purchase a product (e.g., online orvia a physical store) from a retailer, merchant or vendor where theproduct will be delivered as a package to the residence of thesubscriber. The subscriber may have a service where the network serviceprovider of the core network 102 will act on behalf of the subscriber ininteracting with the merchant and a secure delivery box of thesubscriber. For example, the network service provider will monitor thedelivery of the package to the secure delivery box and, in turn, willprovide a notification to the subscriber when the package has beenplaced in the secure delivery box. This allows the subscriber to utilizethe network service provider as a third party manager between theretailer and the subscriber for handling package deliveries. Forexample, the subscriber may already have a home service with the networkservice provider that may be tasked with providing home securityservices (e.g., operating a security system or function, operating afire detection or suppression system or function, and the like) and/orhome automation services (e.g., operating a heating/cooling (HVAC)system or function, operating lightings within the residence, operating(e.g., opening or closing) locks on doors and windows of the residence,and so on). As such, the delivery notification service can be anadditional service that is a component of an overall home serviceprovided by the network service provider.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates the core network 102 only having a single AS104 and a single DB 106, it should be noted that any number ofapplication servers and databases may be deployed. In addition, itshould be noted that core network 102 may include additional networkelements not shown, such as for example, border elements, gateways,routers, switches, firewalls, one or more access networks, and the like.

In one embodiment, one or more retailers, merchants or vendors (hereinreferred generically as a retailer) 110 having hardware systems, e.g.,one or more application servers for taking online orders, are incommunication with the core network 102. In one embodiment, the retailermay have multiple different locations, e.g., an online presence and/orone or more physical stores. Although a single retailer 110 isillustrated in FIG. 1, it should be noted that any number of retailersmay be deployed.

In one embodiment, the retailer 110 may be an entity that sells aproduct to customers, e.g., a subscriber of a network service providerof the core network 102. However, the customers may also includeindividuals who are not subscribers of the network service provider ofthe core network 102.

FIG. 1 illustrates a customer 109 who utilizes an endpoint device 108 toaccess the core network 102 to perform various functions. The endpointdevice can be a wired device, e.g., a desktop computer, or a mobiledevice, e.g., a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a tablet computingdevice, a laptop computer, a pair of computing glasses, a wirelessenabled wristwatch, or any other wireless-capable mobile telephony andcomputing device. In one embodiment, the customer 109 utilizes theendpoint device 108 to make a purchase with a retailer, thereby causingthe delivery of a package to the customer's residence 112. In anotherembodiment, the customer 109 utilizes the endpoint device 108 to receivea notification that the delivery of the package is pending and/or hasoccurred, i.e., placed inside a secure delivery box 114.

In one embodiment, the secure delivery box 114 comprises a securehousing or enclosure, e.g., made from a hardened material such as metal,cement or plastic. The secure delivery box 114 may have one or moreaccess doors 115 to allow one or more packages to be inserted and/orremoved from the secure delivery box 114. In one embodiment, the securedelivery box 114 is secured to the customer premises, e.g., via bolts ormasonry. The present disclosure is not limited to any particularstructures of the secure delivery box 114.

FIG. 1 illustrates a customer's residence or premises 112 having asecure delivery box 114. Although FIG. 1 illustrates the secure deliverybox 114 in one embodiment as being deployed inside of the customer'sresidence 112, e.g., inside a garage of the residence 112 with an accessdoor accessible from the outside for receiving a package 130 deliveredby a deliveryman 131, the secure delivery box 114 can be deployed as astandalone unit that is external to the customer's residence 112. Infact, if the customer premises 112 comprises a much larger housingcomplex, e.g., an apartment building or a university residence hall,then the secure delivery box 114 may comprise a plurality of securedelivery boxes (e.g., one box for each residence within the housingcomplex, or each box is shared among a subset of the residences).

In one embodiment, the delivery box 114 employs a hardware processor ora controller 116 and one or more input and/or output devices 118. Theinput/output devices 118 may comprise an image capturing device (e.g., acamera, a video camera, a scanner, a bar code scanner, a QR codescanner, and the like), a communication device (e.g., an air card, anEthernet card, a modem, a transmitter, a receiver and/or a transceiver),a display (e.g., a touch screen display), a memory (e.g., volatilememory or non-volatile memory), a storage device such as a disk drive, amagnetic drive or an optical drive, and/or one or more buttons (e.g., anopen button to trigger the opening of an access door to allow a packageto be placed into the secure delivery box, a scan button to trigger ascanner to capture a bar or QR code on the package, and the like). Thefunctions performed by the delivery box 114 will be described below inaccordance with FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method 200 for receiving a packageinto a delivery box 114. In one embodiment, the method 200 may beperformed by the hardware processor 116 or a dedicated computer asillustrated in FIG. 4 and discussed below.

The method 200 begins at step 205. At optional step 210, the method 200receives a notification of a pending delivery of a package. For example,a customer purchases a product from a retailer. In turn, the retailermay provide a verification back to the customer that the purchase hasbeen confirmed, e.g., via an email message or a text message such as aShort Message Service (SMS) message and the like. In one embodiment, thenotification may include a token or a code (broadly information) that isgenerated in response to the purchase of the product, e.g., the token orthe code such a bar code or a QR code will be associated with thepackage (e.g., displayed on the exterior of the package), when it isdelivered to the customer's residence. The notification may also includepackage tracking information such as the identity of the carrier ordelivery service that is tasked with delivering the package, e.g., theU.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service (UPS®), FedEx® service, andthe like, an associated tracking number or code that is assigned to thepackage by the pertinent carrier, and an estimated delivery time anddate. The package tracking information may further include a link inwhich the tracking number or code can be used to better track thecurrent progress of the delivery of the package, e.g., the currentlocation of the package. Thus, an estimated time and date of thedelivery of the package can be deduced.

In one embodiment, the notification can be received by the processor 116directly from the retailer 110. Alternatively, the notification can bereceived by the processor 116 from the customer, e.g., via the endpointdevice 108 where the customer redirects the notification email to theprocessor 116. In yet another embodiment, the notification can bereceived by the processor 116 from the AS 104 of the network serviceprovider if the customer has subscribed to a delivery notificationservice. There are various mechanisms that can be used to forward thenotification to the processor 116. For example, the secure delivery box114 can be assigned an email address, an IP address or a phone numberfor receiving such notification, e.g., via emails or text messages. Thepresent disclosure is not limited by the manner in which the securedelivery box 114 receives such notification.

In one embodiment, step 210 can be an optional step. In other words,step 210 can be omitted such that the processor 116 is not provided withany advance notice of the delivery of the package.

In step 220, method 200 receives a notification that a package is to beplaced in the delivery box 114. This notification can be receiveddirectly from the deliveryman 131. For example, the deliveryman 131 maydepress a button 118 to indicate that he intends to deposit a packageinto the delivery box 114. Alternatively, the access door may have asensor (e.g., a contact sensor) or a latch that will indicate that theaccess door is being opened or an attempt is being made to open theaccess door. Such attempt or actual opening of the access door can beinterpreted as a notification that a package is to be placed in thedelivery box 114. In yet another embodiment, the deliveryman 131 maypresent a code attached to the package to a scanner 118 deployed on thedelivery box 114. Reading by the scanner 118 of such code can beinterpreted as a notification that a package is to be placed in thedelivery box 114.

In optional step 230, method 200 provides access to the delivery box114, e.g., releasing a lock or a latch holding the access door in theclosed position. For example, the access door on the delivery box 114may be locked on a regular basis unless a pending delivery of a packageis imminent. This allows the home owner to have control as to when thedelivery box 114 can be accessed as a safety precaution, e.g., toaddress potential theft (e.g., another package may already reside withinthe delivery box), potential mischief (e.g., strangers dropping unwanteditems into the delivery box), or even potential burglary of thecustomer's residence if the access door on the delivery box 114 mayactually provide access to the customer's residence.

For example, in a first scenario, a deliveryman may contact the customerto indicate that he is currently at the customer's residence. Thecustomer then sends a signal to the processor 116 which, in turn, willunlock the access door of the delivery box 114. In a second example, adeliveryman may simply scan the bar code of the package with a scannerdeployed at the delivery box 114 and the processor 116 will then knowthat a delivery of a package is in progress and will unlock the accessdoor of the delivery box 114. In a third example, a deliveryman maysimply scan the bar code of the package with a scanner deployed at thedelivery box 114 and the processor 116 will first match the scanned barcode with information (e.g., token or bar code information) received instep 210. Namely, in this scenario, the processor 116 will only provideaccess to the delivery box if the information from the scanned bar codematches stored information that was previously sent to the delivery box114, e.g., from the retailer of the customer. This ensures that thedelivery box 114 will only be opened to receive an “expected” package,which will serve as an additional security measure so that a thief willnot be able to access the delivery box by simply presenting a bar codefrom another package. Finally, in one embodiment, step 230 can be anoptional step that can be omitted, i.e., the access door to the deliverybox 114 can be opened at any time.

In step 240, method 200 captures an image or a video (broadly aplurality of images) of the delivery of the package. For example, animage capturing device 118 may capture an image of the individual(presumably the deliveryman) depositing the package into the deliverybox. Furthermore, the image capturing device 118 may also capture animage of the package residing within the delivery box 114 after theaccess door is closed and/or locked. This will ensure that the packagewas actually left inside the delivery box, e.g., to address the scenariowhere the deliveryman may access the delivery box as if he is depositingthe package, but instead, walks away with the package.

In step 250, method 200 sends a confirmation that the package has beenplaced in the delivery box 114. For example, an email message or a textmessage (e.g., “package received”) can be sent to the customer'sendpoint device 108, to the AS 104, and/or to the retailer 110. In oneembodiment, the confirmation may further include information pertainingto the package, e.g., the package tracking number, a date and time stampassociated with the delivery and the like. In another embodiment, theconfirmation may further include an image or video of the delivery,e.g., a picture of the deliveryman, a picture of the package residingwithin the delivery box and so on.

In optional step 260, method 200 sends a notification that the packagehas been removed from the delivery box 114. For example, an emailmessage or a text message (e.g., “package taken out of the deliverybox”) can be sent to the customer's endpoint device 108, to the AS 104,and/or to the retailer 110. In one embodiment, the notification mayfurther include information pertaining to the package, e.g., the packagetracking number, a date and time stamp associated with the package beingtaken out and the like. In another embodiment, the notification mayfurther include an image or video of the act of removing the packagefrom the delivery box 114, e.g., a picture of the customer, a picture ofthe package leaving the delivery box and so on.

In one embodiment, the customer is provided with a customer access codefor retrieving the package from the delivery box. For example, theretailer may provide the customer with the customer access code afterthe purchase of a product has been confirmed, e.g., in the email or textmessage as described in step 210. Alternatively, the customer accesscode may comprise biometric data associated with the customer. Thecustomer will then enter this customer access code (broadly interactwith the delivery box if non-tactile communication is used, e.g., nearfield communication, presenting a code or an image from a mobile deviceto the delivery box, and so on) when retrieving the package from thedelivery box. The delivery box 114 may then provide a confirmation backto the retailer that the individual who removed the package has alsoprovided the customer access code. Thus, the present disclosure providesan end to end tracking of the package with secure delivery and securedretrieval by the recipient of the package. It should be noted that thecustomer access code can be implemented in various ways. For example,the customer access code can simply be a series of alphanumericcharacters, a symbol, a bar code, a QR code, and the like. In fact, thecustomer access code may be biometric data associated with the customer,e.g., fingerprints, voiceprints, an image of an iris of the customer,and the like. Thus, in one embodiment the retailer does not actuallyprovide the customer access code in the purchase confirmation message,but may instead define the type of biometric data that is required to beprovided to the delivery box before retrieval of the package.

Step 260 is an optional step if the customer does not want suchnotification to be sent. However, in one embodiment, this step may be arequired step dictated by the retailer who may want confirmation thatthe customer has taken possession of the package. Method 200 may thenreturn to step 210 or end in step 265.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method 300 for monitoring thereceipt of a package into a delivery box 114. In one embodiment, themethod 300 may be performed by the AS 104 or a dedicated computer asillustrated in FIG. 4 and discussed below.

The method 300 begins at step 305. In step 310, method 300 receives anotification of a pending delivery of a package associated with asubscriber. For example, a subscriber purchases a product from aretailer. In turn, the retailer may provide a verification back to thecustomer via the network service provider AS 104 that the purchase hasbeen confirmed, e.g., via an email message or a text message such as aShort Message Service (SMS) message and the like. Namely, the subscribermay have a subscription for a delivery notification service with thenetwork service provider.

In one embodiment, the notification may include a token or a code thatis generated in response to the purchase of the product, e.g., the tokenor the code such a bar code or a QR code will be associated (e.g.,displayed on the exterior of the package) with the package when it isdelivered to the customer's residence. The notification may also includepackage tracking information such as the identity of the carrier ordelivery service that is tasked with delivering the package, e.g., theU.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service (UPS®), FedEx® service, andthe like, an associated tracking number or code that is assigned to thepackage by the pertinent carrier, and an estimated delivery time anddate. The package tracking information may further include a link inwhich the tracking number or code can be used to better track thecurrent progress of the delivery of the package, e.g., the currentlocation of the package. Thus, an estimated time and date of thedelivery of the package can be deduced.

In one embodiment, the notification is received by the AS 104 directlyfrom the retailer 110. There are various mechanisms that can be used toforward the notification to the AS 104. For example, the AS 104 can beassigned an email address, an IP address or a phone number for receivingsuch notification, e.g., via emails or text messages. The presentdisclosure is not limited by the manner in which the AS 104 receivessuch notification.

In step 320, the method 300 receives a notification from the deliveryservice, e.g., a carrier that the delivery of package will occur withina time period. For example, UPS may indicate that the delivery of thepackage will occur on Jan. 2, 2015 between 2-5 pm.

In step 330, the method 300 sends a notification to the delivery box 114associated with the subscriber 109 after the notification from thedelivery service is received. In other words, once AS 104 is providedwith a delivery schedule, e.g., a date and a time, the AS 104 willnotify the delivery box of the delivery schedule. The notification mayinclude a token or a code associated with the package as discussed aboveso that the delivery box 114 can correlate such information with scannedinformation received from a scanner located at the delivery box 114 whenthe package is delivered.

In optional step 340, the method 300 sends a notification to thesubscriber 109 after the notification from the delivery service isreceived. In other words, once AS 104 is provided with a deliveryschedule, e.g., a date and a time, the AS 104 will notify the subscriber109 of the delivery schedule.

In step 350, method 300 receives a confirmation that the package hasbeen placed in the delivery box 114. For example, an email message or atext message (e.g., “package received”) sent from the delivery box 114is received by the AS 104. In one embodiment, the confirmation mayfurther include information pertaining to the package, e.g., the packagetracking number, a date and time stamp associated with the delivery andthe like. In another embodiment, the confirmation may further include animage or video of the delivery, e.g., a picture of the deliveryman, apicture of the package residing within the delivery box and so on.

In optional step 360, method 300 sends the confirmation to the endpointdevice 108 of the subscriber 109 or the retailer 110 that the packagehas been placed into the delivery box 114. For example, an email messageor a text message (e.g., “package placed into the delivery box”) can besent to the subscriber's endpoint device 108 and/or to the retailer 110.In one embodiment, the confirmation may further include informationpertaining to the package, e.g., the package tracking number, a date andtime stamp associated with the package being placed inside the deliverybox and the like. In another embodiment, the confirmation may furtherinclude an image or video of the act of placing the package into thedelivery box 114, e.g., a picture of the deliveryman, a picture of thepackage residing inside the delivery box and so on. This is an optionalstep if the customer does not want such confirmation to be sent.However, in one embodiment, this step may be a required step dictated bythe retailer who may want confirmation that the package has beendelivered to the customer. Method 300 may then return to step 310 or endin step 365.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present disclosureimprove the technology of package delivery by allowing a network serviceprovider and customers to be able to monitor and confirm the safedelivery or receipt of a package. This allows the network serviceprovider and/or the customer to assist in deterring the thefts ofdelivered packages that are often left unattended at the customers'premises, thereby maintaining convenience for the customers whilereducing losses suffered by retailers, carriers and/or insurancecompanies.

In addition, security of the customer's premises is also improved. Thesecure delivery box 114 eliminates the temptation of thieves who may betempted to trespass onto private properties in the hope of finding andthen stealing an unattended delivered package. Such behavior may lead tounanticipated confrontations where the safety of the customer or thecustomer's family may be put at risk.

Finally, there is also a novel transformation of purchase data andassociated package tracking data into security data or control signalsfor the operation of a secure delivery box 114. Such transformation ofthe purchase data will improve the security of the customer's residence,e.g., proper operation and monitoring of the secure delivery box 114.

It should be noted that although not explicitly specified, one or moresteps, functions, or operation of the methods 200 and 300 describedabove may include a storing, displaying and/or outputting step asrequired for a particular application. In other words, any data,records, fields, and/or intermediate results discussed in the methodscan be stored, displayed, and/or outputted to another device as requiredfor a particular application. Furthermore, steps, operations or blocksin FIGS. 2 and 3 that recite a determining operation, or involve adecision, do not necessarily require that both branches of thedetermining operation be practiced. In other words, one of the branchesof the determining operation can be deemed as an optional step.

FIG. 4 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computer suitable for usein performing the functions described herein. As depicted in FIG. 4, thesystem 400 comprises one or more hardware processor elements 402 e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or a multi-coreprocessor), a memory 404, e.g., random access memory (RAM) and/or readonly memory (ROM), a module 405 for ensuring and verifying the securedelivery of a package, and various input/output devices 406 (e.g.,storage devices, including but not limited to, one or more buttons, animage capturing device, a scanner, a tape drive, a floppy drive, a harddisk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, aspeaker, a display, a clock for providing date and time stamps, a speechsynthesizer, an output port, an input port and a user input device (suchas a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a microphone and the like)). Althoughonly one processor element is shown, it should be noted that thecomputer may employ a plurality of processor elements. Furthermore,although only one computer is shown in the figure, if the method(s) asdiscussed above is implemented in a distributed or parallel manner for aparticular illustrative example, i.e., the steps of the above method(s)or the entire method(s) are implemented across multiple or parallelcomputers, then the computer of this figure is intended to representeach of those multiple computers. Furthermore, one or more hardwareprocessors can be utilized in supporting a virtualized or sharedcomputing environment. The virtualized computing environment may supportone or more virtual machines representing computers, servers, or othercomputing devices. In such virtualized virtual machines, hardwarecomponents such as hardware processors and computer-readable storagedevices may be virtualized or logically represented.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable logicarray (PLA), including a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or astate machine deployed on a hardware device, a computer or any otherhardware equivalents, e.g., computer readable instructions pertaining tothe method(s) discussed above can be used to configure a hardwareprocessor to perform the steps, functions and/or operations of the abovedisclosed methods. In one embodiment, instructions and data for thepresent module or process 405 for ensuring and verifying the securedelivery of a package (e.g., a software program comprisingcomputer-executable instructions) can be loaded into memory 404 andexecuted by hardware processor element 402 to implement the steps,functions or operations as discussed above in connection with theexemplary methods 200 and 300. Furthermore, when a hardware processorexecutes instructions to perform “operations”, this could include thehardware processor performing the operations directly and/orfacilitating, directing, or cooperating with another hardware device orcomponent (e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform the operations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method(s) can be perceived as aprogrammed processor or a specialized processor. As such, the presentmodule 405 for ensuring and verifying the secure delivery of a package(including associated data structures) of the present disclosure can bestored on a tangible or physical (broadly non-transitory)computer-readable storage device or medium, e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, ROM memory, RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive,device or diskette and the like. Furthermore, a “tangible”computer-readable storage device or medium comprises a physical device,a hardware device, or a device that is discernible by the touch. Morespecifically, the computer-readable storage device may comprise anyphysical devices that provide the ability to store information such asdata and/or instructions to be accessed by a processor or a computingdevice such as a computer or an application server.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodiment shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for receiving a package, the methodcomprising: receiving, by a processor of a delivery box having anenclosure accessible via an access door, a notification of a pendingdelivery of the package, wherein the delivery box is deployed on aproperty of a customer for exclusive use for the delivery of packages tothe customer and is accessible to delivery services personnel;receiving, by the processor, an indication that the package is to beplaced into the delivery box, wherein the indication comprisesinformation received by a scanner of the delivery box, wherein thenotification of the pending delivery of the package is received prior tothe receiving of the indication; determining, by the processor, whetherthe information received by the scanner matches information provided inthe notification of the pending delivery of the package; providing, bythe processor, access to the enclosure of the delivery box via theaccess door when the information received by the scanner matches theinformation provided in the notification of the pending delivery of thepackage; capturing, by the processor, in response to the access door ofthe delivery box being closed and locked, an image of delivery of thepackage, wherein the image comprises an image of the package residingwithin the delivery box; sending, by the processor, a confirmation thatthe package has been placed into the delivery box, wherein theconfirmation comprises the image of delivery of the package; obtaining,by the processor from a retailer that sent the package, a customeraccess code to be used to access the delivery box; receiving, by theprocessor, an input of the customer access code to access the deliverybox; capturing, by the processor in response to the input of thecustomer access code, an image of an act of removing the package fromthe delivery box; and sending, by the processor, to the retailer thatsent the package, a notification that the package has been removed fromthe delivery box, wherein the notification that the package has beenremoved from the delivery box comprises the image of the act of removingthe package from the delivery box.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theconfirmation is sent to an endpoint device of the customer.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the confirmation is sent to the retailer thatsent the package.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation issent to an application server that provides a delivery notificationservice.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation furthercomprises a date and a time in which the package was placed inside thedelivery box.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification thatthe package has been removed from the delivery box further comprises adate and a time in which the package was removed from the delivery box.7. The method of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to denythe access to the enclosure of the delivery box via the access door whenthe information received by the scanner does not match the informationprovided in the notification of the pending delivery of the package. 8.A delivery box comprising: an enclosure with an access door; aprocessor; and a computer-readable medium storing a plurality ofinstructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processorto perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving anotification of a pending delivery of a package, when the delivery boxis deployed on a property of a customer for exclusive use in thedelivery of packages to the customer and is accessible to deliveryservices personnel; receiving an indication that a package is to beplaced into the delivery box, wherein the indication comprisesinformation received by a scanner of the delivery box, wherein thenotification of the pending delivery of the package is received prior tothe receiving of the indication; determining whether the informationreceived by the scanner matches information provided in the notificationof the pending delivery of the package; providing access to theenclosure of the delivery box via the access door when the informationreceived by the scanner matches the information provided in thenotification of the pending delivery of the package; capturing, inresponse to the access door of the delivery box being closed and locked,an image of delivery of the package, wherein the image comprises animage of the package residing within the delivery box; sending aconfirmation that the package has been placed into the delivery box,wherein the confirmation comprises the image of delivery of the package;obtaining, from a retailer that sent the package, a customer access codeto be used to access the delivery box; receiving an input of thecustomer access code to access the delivery box; capturing, in responseto the input of the customer access code, an image of an act of removingthe package from the delivery box; and sending, to a retailer that sentthe package, a notification that the package has been removed from thedelivery box, wherein the notification that the package has been removedfrom the delivery box comprises the image of the act of removing thepackage from the delivery box.
 9. The delivery box of claim 8, whereinthe confirmation is sent to the retailer that sent the package.
 10. Thedelivery box of claim 8, wherein the plurality of instructions arefurther to cause the processor to deny the access to the enclosure ofthe delivery box via the access door when the information received bythe scanner does not match the information provided in the notificationof the pending delivery of the package.
 11. The delivery box of claim 8,wherein the confirmation is sent to an application server that providesa delivery notification service.
 12. The delivery box of claim 8,wherein the confirmation further comprises a date and a time in whichthe package was placed inside the delivery box.
 13. The delivery box ofclaim 8, wherein the notification that the package has been removed fromthe delivery box comprises a date and a time in which the package wasremoved from the delivery box.
 14. The delivery box of claim 8, whereinthe confirmation is sent to an endpoint device of the customer.
 15. Amethod for monitoring a delivery of a package, the method comprising:receiving, by a processor of an application server of a communicationnetwork service provider, a first notification of the delivery of thepackage associated with a customer from a retailer to a deliveryservice; receiving, by the processor of the application server of theservice provider, a second notification from the delivery service of adelivery schedule of the package; sending, by the processor of theapplication server of the communication network service provider, inresponse to the receiving the second notification, a third notificationcomprising the delivery schedule to a delivery box associated with thecustomer, wherein the delivery box is deployed on a property of thecustomer for exclusive use in the delivery of packages to the customerand is accessible to delivery services personnel; receiving, by theprocessor of the application server of the communication network serviceprovider, in response to the package being placed into the delivery boxand an access door of the delivery box being closed and locked, aconfirmation from the delivery box, wherein the confirmation comprisesan image of the package residing within the delivery box; receiving, bythe processor of the application server of the communication networkservice provider, a fourth notification that the package has beenremoved from the delivery box using a customer access code provided bythe retailer to the customer to be used to access the delivery box,wherein the fourth notification comprises an image of an act of removingthe package from the delivery box; and sending, by the processor of theapplication server of the communication network service provider to theretailer that sent the package, in response to the receiving the fourthnotification, the fourth notification that the package has been removedfrom the delivery box.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the firstnotification comprises a date and a time in which the package wasdelivered from the retailer to the delivery service.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the confirmation comprises a date in which the packagewas placed inside the delivery box.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinthe confirmation further comprises a time in which the package wasplaced inside the delivery box.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein thefourth notification that the package has been removed from the deliverybox further comprises a date in which the package was removed from thedelivery box.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the fourthnotification that the package has been removed from the delivery boxfurther comprises a time in which the package was removed from thedelivery box.